But ex-Red Devils captain Keane hit back on ITV: "I remember having conversations with [Ferguson] about loyalty. In my opinion he doesn't know the meaning of the word.

"To constantly criticise other players that brought him success... I won't be losing any sleep over it."

The fall-out between the pair has been re-ignited by Ferguson in his explosive book, My Autobiography.

Ferguson will be dismayed that Keane has now had the last word on their fractured relationship, which fell apart when the midfield hardman left Old Trafford following a controversial, unbroadcast interview with MUTV in which he criticised young players at the club.

Fergie saved his strongest personal attack in his book for Keane, and even at the book launch gave Keane both barrels.

Strong words: Sir Alex Ferguson didn't hold back in his book (Image: WireImage)

When asked whether he expected Keane to have a go back, Ferguson said: "The nature of the man, you can expect that. That is the personality Roy is. The reason I had to explain it was that it happened so quickly. His actions were so quick.

"For one reason or another he decided to criticise his team-mates. We couldn't release it. It resulted in two young players getting booed before the game in Paris on the Wednesday. We decided we had to do something.

"The meeting in the room was horrendous. I just couldn't lose my control in this stage and if I had let it pass the players would have viewed me much differently to the way I want to judged. Throughout my career I've been strong enough to deal with issues like that.

"He overstepped his mark, absolutely, and there was no other thing we could do. We did well - we paid up his whole contract and gave him a testimonial the following season with 75,000. We did everything we could to honour the fact that he was a great player for us."